25 years after Houston was destroyed in a brutal supervillain attack, Jay Martin is accepted into the Texan Hero Network. Tasked with this sacred duty, he takes on the alter ego of Quickwit and vows to always protect Neo Houston.
Unfortunately, desp...
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Not everyone can be a hero, it's true, but heroic actions go far beyond just pummeling masked theater kids into the dirt. Every person in Neo Houston who does their part to keep the community safe was acting heroically.
That's why Jay has decided to help the food bank today. It may sound counterproductive to volunteer on his day off, but he needs to keep his mind busy even though the reprieve from hero work is much-needed. So he lets his brain go blank as he goes about stacking cans, organizing bags of pasta, and adding stickers to packets of rice. It was a relief to step away from his persona as Quickwit and do good as plain-old Jay.
It's not like he had to deal with the mobs of crazed fans like other heroes, but there was still a sense of responsibility that hangs over you when putting on the mask...so today he could just be a normal person doing normal things. He didn't have to think about everthing going wrong with Quickwit right now, all he needed to do was stack cans and drive around town. Maybe he could even make some actual friends here.
However, as the time approaches to start distribution, his luck runs out.
"Jay," the organizer calls out, "can you come over here?"
Setting down a heavy jar of pasta sauce, the blond immediately approaches the woman. "Hey Sheryl, what's up?"
The rotund brunette smiles kindly. " Jay, you have a license, right? You're doing distribution today?"
Jay nods. "Yeah?"
"Would you mind taking one of our employees with you? Usually he does stocking, but we have extra hands here today so we don't need him."
"That sounds fine by me, I could use another person to carry all these heavy boxes."
Sheryl smiles, turning to face the stockroom. "Great! Hey Gannet, I got someone to drive you!"
Jay's stomach drops at the name. There's no way, right? Of all the places for the villain to turn up, he wouldn't appear here of all places. Houston is a big city, there had to be tons of Gannets around.
But no, the dark-haired man steps out from the back room, holding a box of giant mystery squash and wearing an "H-Town Heroes Foodbank" lanyard. His eyes dart to Jay's, mahogany brown meeting forest green for just a moment before darting away quickly. "Okay. Where do you want me to put this...?"
Sheryl approaches the villain, hefting the unidentifiable vegetables into her arms. "I'll take care of it, just help Jay out today."
Gannet nods, approaching the blond. "Hey, nice to meet you."
The hero flounders for a moment, unsure of what he should do. Will Gannet recognize Jay from the sound of his voice? He contemplates coming up with some kind of excuse to escape, but decides against it. If Gannet can't recognize Faye, who doesn't even wear a mask, he most certainly won't know Jay is Quickwit without his balaclava.
